Anti-sealjng dip-pipe and sealing-cup



' I (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. E. LIND S LEY.

ANTI SEALING DIP PIPE AND SEALING No. 358,047. Patented-Feb. '22, 1887.

A T TOHIVE Y (No Model.) 2 8hgets-Sheet 2.

E. LINDSLEY. ANTI SEALING DIP PIPE AND SEALING GUP- No. 358,047.- Patented Peb. 22, 1887.

WITNESSES: l/vvslyrog ATTORNEY n. mzns, Phoinljlhagrapher, Wuhinglnn. u. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

ED\VARD LINDSLEY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

ANTI-SEALING DIP-PIPE AND SEALING-CUP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 358,047, dated February 22, 1887.

Application filed December 12, 1885. Serial No. 185,443.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD LINDSLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in Cleveland, in the county of Guyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Anti-Sealing Dip-Pipes and Sealing-Cups to be Employed in Gas Appara' tus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whiclf it relates to make and use the same.

For the better understanding of the op eration and economic advantages of my improvement, I shall first briefly describe the distilling apparatus employed in the ordinary manufacture of coal-gas. This consists, gencrally, of one or more vessels, known as retorts, D-shaped in cross-section,eight or nine feet long, and of diameter to suit local workin g conditions, the retorts being arrangedhorizontally in a suitable arch with a furnace be neath. Each retort has a mouthpiece provided with a tight-closing door, and is connected by means of a stand-pipe, bridge-pipe, and dip-pipe with the hydraulic main. The coal from which the gasis made is introduced through the door of the mouth-piece within the retort, which is maintained at a high heat. The retort being charged, the door is closed, and the gas evolved by the action of the heat passes to the hydraulic main through the abovementioned pipes, the latter or dip-pipe having its open lower end extending below the surface of the liquid contained in said main, and which is maintained ata constant level by any suitable means.

It will be understood from this description that the gas can only find its way into free space in the hydraulic main by overcoming the liquid seal or dip of the dip-pipe. Gasengineers have long recognized the disadvantage arising from forcing the gas through the seal, slight though it be, and various contrivances have been devised for dispensing with the dip and yet retaining the hydraulic main, which possesses advantages hard to obtain in any other way.

Among the disadvantages referred to may be mentioned, first, a diminished yield of gas, owing to a portion being forced out through (No model.)

the pores of the retorts, which are now usually made of clay, by reason of the intermittent pressure occasioned by the seal of the dippipe; second, the absorption to some extent of the illuminating constituents of the gas by the heavy hydrocarbon oils contained in coaltar, and which largely constitute the hydraulic seal; third, the deposit of carbon within the retort, materially reducing its holding capacity and heat-conducting qualities, all of which is at the expense of the illuminating principle of the gas. Vith reference to this last-mentioned disadvantage, it may be said that prob ably it is not the mere slight pressure occasioned by the dip-pipe that causes the bulk of carbon deposit in the retort, but the intermittent action of the gas in passing the seal in the hydraulic main.

Having thus enumerated some of the disadvantages attending the use of these devices as at present constructed, I may mention, among the advantages of my improvement, first, the relief of the retort from all in termittent or other pressure which is liable to force gas out through the pores of the retort; second, a greatlydiminished deposit of carbon on the side of the retort, thus increasing the actual gas yield in corresponding proportion, as well as considerably prolonging the time in which a retort may be used before stopping to remove the carbon deposit; third, providing a seal which is entirely at the command of the attendant and can be instantly closed or opened, as may be desired; fourth, enabling me to work retorts interchangeably with adjustable seals or permanent seals, or in the same range running one set of benches with the old seal and another set with the new one.

The object of my invention is to secure the advantages last above enumerated; and my invention consists in certain novelties of construction whereby these results are accomplished, all as hereinafter fully described, and specially pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a bench of retorts with the automatic mechanism for operating the sealing-cup and other features fully in View. Fig. 2 is a sectional side View of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a portion of the hydraulic main in which the dip-pipe is shown unsealed, and also showing the seal-regulator in section. Fig. 4; is a vertical section taken on line y y, Fig. 1, showing the dip-pipe sealed by the sealing-cup. Fig. 5 is an end view of a section of the hydraulic main, showing the overflow-diaphragm in full lines and the sealing-cup in dotted lines.

A represents the mouth-piece or front of the retort; B, the stand-pipe, extending upwardly therefrom. G is the bridge-pipe, which connects pipe B with dip-pipe D. 1*] is a hydraulic main. (Shown in cross-section in Fig. 4.) These several elements arecommon in the construction of gas apparatus as at present in general use.

E indicates a sealing-cup, which is made of such diameter as to loosely encompass the end of the dip-pipe when used for sealing the same.

(1 d are guide-pipes, the open upper ends of which extend through and a short distance above the root of the hydraulic main, to which they are secured by gas-tight joints, and the lower ends a short distance-say one and a half inchbelow the dip -pipe and dipping .into the sealing-liquid contained in the hydraulic main. Lifting-rods e e are connected with the bottom of the sealing-cup on its outside, and, passing freely up through the guidepipes d d, are secured to the arms of a bifurcated lever, F, pivoted on the lower extremity of the bridge-pipe O or on stand-pipe B, as may seem more desirable. This lever F is designed to control the sealing-cup E, and may be operated directly by means of a cord or rod attached to its end, or by such other mechanism as will readily suggest itself and be found convenient. I, however, prefer automatic agencies for controlling the action of the seal ing-cup, as by that means the adjustment of the cup necessarily must take place at times and according to conditions which have been predetermined, thus avoiding all possibility of danger and injurious consequences, if any there might arise, from adjusting the cup at wrong times or neglecting to adjust it when required. To accomplish this result, I attach a suitable frame, G, to the facing of the arch which contains the retorts in such manner that its outer edge will be in about the same verti cal plane as the front of the mouthpiece. On this frame I pivot a series of bell-crank levers, h, which are connected by rods in with each other and with the bifurcated lever F and an extension, Z, on the door L, as shown in Fig. l. By this' arrangement, when the door L is closed, the sealing-cup E will be carried down to its lowest point of adjustment, so that the gas may flow freely into the hydraulic main, and when the door is opened the cup will rise and form a seal for the dip-pipe.

Of course the particular means shown and described to accomplish this purpose are not -material in the sense that they form the limits of this feature of my invention. The novelty of the construction lies in the fact that it anto accomplish this purpose.

tomatieally adjusts the sealingcup at the proper times and to the required extent.

The level of the liquid in the hydraulic main is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4., and, as will be seen, is some distance below the end of the dip-pipe. It should be about midway be tween the end of said pipe and the ends of the guide-pipes. The sealing-cup may beof any convenient depth, so that its upper edge is be low the level of the sealing-liquid when it rests on the bottom of the hydraulic main. Threefourths of an inch is ample submergence, and if the level of the sealing-liquid be maintained, so that while the cup is thus immersed the finid will stand three-fourths of an inch below the lower end of the dip-pipe and the same distance above the lower ends of the guidepipes, the conditions of a safe seal for said guide-pipes and for the free passage of gas outward through the dip-pipe will be fully met. This also will insure a sufficient depth of sealing-fluid to overflow and fill the sealingcup when it rests on the bottom of' the hydraulic main.

From the foregoing description the action of the sealingeup will readily be understood. Tracing its movements through the chain of mechanism connecting it with the door of the retort, it will be seen that when the door is closed and the retort is at work the cup is sunk beneath the sealingliquid, and the gas flows unobstructed into the hydraulic main; but as soon as the door opens the cup rises filled with liquid, and, being carried up a sufficient distance, immerses the lower end of the dip-pipe in the seal thus formed and effectually closes said pipe against a backflow of the gas. The closing of the door re-establishes the original conditions, and the seal at the bot tom of the dip-pipe is removed, the cup taking its place beneath the sealing-fluid, as before.

An adjustable seal-regulator is attached to the hydraulic main at some convenient place, which may be set so as to maintain the level of the seal at any desired point below or above the end of the dip-pipe, so that if, for any reason, it is desired to work a range of retortswith the dips under a constant seal, the regulator may be correspondingly raised and the overflow established at the required height. Water from a convenient tank may be passed into the hydraulic main in sufficient quantity In my construction I show a tank, M, which communicates with the hydraulic main by a pipe, N, provided with a cock, n, for controlling the flow of the water.

0 is an extension of the hydraulic main, and the chest 0 is provided with a chamber, 0, and openings 0 o 0 0 and a tar-dip regulator, P, the purpose and operation of which will appear farther on.

It is desirable at times that one or more benches or nests of retorts'in a range may be worked with the dips under seal, while others in the same range are worked without, but

having the sealing-cup in position to be operated, as hereinbefore described. To this end I place a diaphragm, Q, between the sections of the hydraulic main, the upper or overflow edge of which is slightly higher than the lower ends of the dip-pipes, and when the said pipes are worked under seal forming the then existing fluid-level in that section of the hydraulic main. An outlet-pipe, q, is provided at any convenient point along the bottom of each section of the hydraulic main for the escape of the surplus fluid introduced for the above-described purpose, as well as to pass off that which is constantly accumulating when retorts are in action. Said outlet-pipe connects with a supplementary tar or fluid pipe, It, which is located parallel with and along the entire length of the hydraulic main and enters said main near the dip'regulator at a level below the lowest level at which the sealingliquid is to be maintained. A stopcock, r, is placed in each outlet-pipe between the hydraulic main and supplementary tar-pipe. By closing the stop-cock and introducing to the hydraulic main,with which the outlet-pipe is connected, water sufficient to overflow the diaphragm, it will be readily seen that all the dips in that section will be worked under full seal, the surplus liquid overflowing the diaphragm into the next section of the hydraulic main, which, if working dips unsealed, must of course pass all surplus sealing-liquid coming into or formed in it through its own outlet-pipe to the supplementary tar-pipe, and so to the general overflow or tar-dip regulator.

It always is desirable to take the surplus fluid in the hydraulic main from the bottom, as thereby the heavier tar deposits, which naturally gravitate to the bottom of the main, are first drawn off; hence the supplemental tar or fluid pipe is connected to the said main by short pipes, as described, through which the tar is carried into the hydraulic extension entering at the bottom. As the level of the tar or fluid accumulating in this extension is governed by the (lipregulator, and as the open ing 0 occupies a higher plane than the opening 0, it will be seen that the tar which escapes through either opening 0% or 0 will pass into the chamber 0 through the lower opening, 0 so that here again the heavier fluid is drawn oiffirst. When the retorts are at work, the dipregulator is set to pass the surplus fluid through the opening 0', in relation to which opening it is graduated according as one seal or the other is used.

As a matter of safety and to insure the action of the supplemental tar or fluid pipe in maintaining the desired level of the sealing fluid, it may be connected at intervals to the hydraulic main by means of pipes S, extending from the said tar-pipe to points above the sealing-fluid in the hydraulic main. A cock, 8, is employed to control the flow of gas through said pipes.

Of course the supplemental tar or liquid pipe and the regulating mechanism connected therewith is adapted to be used with a hydraulic main having but a single section, as well as with a main divided into two or more sections. If one section alone were used and it were desirable to run under full seal, the surplus fluid would pass over the diaphragm into the hydraulic extension. If the other method of sealing were einployed,using the sealing-cup, the operation would be the same as already described.

I am aware of English Patent No. 1,244 of 1873, which shows a sealing-cup suspended from a rod running through packing in the top of the dip-pipe, and having a weighted and handled lever adapted to be fastened to the door of the retort when the cup is down, the weight serving to hold the cup in sealing position; also, of a sealing device, not a cup, having guide-pipes for its supports under constant seal, and an end plate of a main with an opening cut-in its bottom for the escape of tar, with outside mechanism to control the depth of the sealingfluid, and such construct-ions I do not claim.

\Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a gas apparatus,a hydraulic main and a dip-pipe, in combination with a sealing'cup suspended beneath the dip-pipe by rods extending through the main outside said pipe, and a system of levers and rods connecting the sealing-cup with the door of the retort, whereby when the door is opened the cup is automatically raised, and when it is closed the cup is lowered, substantially as set forth.

2. In a gas apparatus, a hydraulic main having a stationary overflow-diaphragm at its end, a dip-pipe extending below the upper edge of the diaphragm, and a cup to seal the dip-pipe,in combination with a gate independent of the diaphragm, and open communication between the gate and the hydraulic main, substantially as set forth. I

3. In a gas apparatus, a dip-pipe, asealingcup, and a main having an overflow-diaphragm, in combination with a fluid-pipe which enters the main below the lowest operating level of the fluid therein, and a device connected with said pipe to regulate the level of the fluid in the main below the overflow of the diaphragm, substantially as set forth.

4. In a gas apparatus, a hydraulic main having a fixed overflow-diaphragm at its end, and a tar or fluid pipe connected with the main below the lowest operating level of the fluid therein, in combination with a sealingcup, at seal-rcgulating chamber at the end of the main and in communication with the main through the pipe and above the diaphragm, substantially as set forth.

5. In a gas apparatus, a hydraulic main having a fixed overflow-diaphragm at its end, a dip-pipe, and a cup to seal the dip-pipe, in combination with a fluid or tar pipe, an extension-chamber at the end of the main, into ITO adjustable gate on said extension,substantially pipe with the space in the main above the fluidas set forth. level, substantially as set forth.

6. In a gas apparatus, a hydraulic main EDXVARD LINDSLEY. having an overflow-diaphragm, a dip-pipe,

which the fluid or tar ipe disohawes; and an with and a )i e or pipes eonneoting the fluid p b l 7 l p Witnesses H. 'l. FISHER.

and a sealing-cup, in combination with a tar \V. M. HAYDEN, or fluid pipe, a seal-regulator connected there 

